Commercial units from the city — how tenders and auctions work

Municipal commercial units (lokale użytkowe) in Warszawa are let in four formats: a tender for offers (written or oral) for up to 3 years or 5 years, a profiled tender and an auction — up to 10 years, and negotiations outside the tender procedure for units for which two tenders failed to produce a tenant. Notices are published by the district ZGN offices (Zakłady Gospodarowania Nieruchomościami, municipal property management units) on the Electronic Notice Board (eto.um.warszawa.pl). To take part you pay a wadium (bid deposit) equal to the opening monthly net rent — for a 50 m² unit at a rate of 30 zł/m² that is 1,500 zł; the organiser may raise it to a maximum of three times that. As a rule the only selection criterion is the offered net rent rate per m². In oral bidding the minimum increment is 1% of the opening rate. After winning you most often sign the contract within 14 days and pay a kaucja (security deposit) equal to three times the offered rent including VAT, less the wadium. The rules are set by resolution no. XXIII/663/2019 and ordinance no. 136/2020 — as of August 2026, after the amendment of 28 November 2024. Opening rates can be markedly lower than commercial rents in the area, and the procedure is public. Below is the whole path step by step.

Where to look for notices about units from the city?

Notices are published by the units of individual districts — above all the ZGN offices (Zakłady Gospodarowania Nieruchomościami), and in Śródmieście also by the Zarząd Terenów Publicznych. Check four places:

• the Electronic Notice Board of the City of Warszawa (eto.um.warszawa.pl) — most tenders end up here;
• the um.warszawa.pl website, section „Nieruchomości miejskie — kup lub wynajmij” (municipal property — buy or rent);
• the websites of the district ZGN offices (Mokotów, Wola, Praga-Południe, Żoliborz and so on) — together with document templates;
• information notice boards at the premises of district authorities and ZGN offices.

Every notice states the address, the floor area, the technical condition, the opening net rent rate per m², the wadium amount, the permitted type of business activity and the lease period. Before submitting an offer you have to view the unit — you arrange the viewing date with the unit supervisor named in the notice. This is exactly the „off-market” our clients in gastronomy and services ask about.

What lease formats do the regulations provide for?

The rules for renting municipal commercial units in Warszawa are set by two acts: resolution no. XXIII/663/2019 of the Warszawa City Council of 5 December 2019 and ordinance no. 136/2020 of the Mayor of Warszawa of 5 February 2020. Both have been amended (the most recent change to the resolution: 28 November 2024); as of August 2026:

Format	Lease period	When it is used
Tender for offers (written or oral)	up to 3 years, 5 years in some proceedings	the basic format for vacant units
Profiled tender	up to 10 years	units with an imposed intended use (e.g. crafts, services)
Auction	up to 10 years	long-term lease
Lease outside the tender (negotiations)	up to 3 years	units for which two tenders produced no valid offers

An important nuance: a unit that twice failed to find a tenant in a tender goes onto the list for lease outside the tender procedure — and units in basements and semi-basements go there after just one unsuccessful proceeding. On such a list you negotiate from the minimum rate without competition, so it is worth monitoring separately.

How much is the wadium and how do you pay it?

The wadium is the equivalent of the opening monthly net rent for the unit: for 50 m² with an opening rate of 30 zł/m² it comes to 1,500 zł. In justified cases the organiser may raise it, to a maximum of three times that amount.

You pay it by bank transfer to the account given in the notice, at the latest on the day the deadline for submitting offers expires — what counts is the date the office account is credited, not the date the transfer was ordered. In the transfer title give the notice number, the address of the unit and the name of the bidder — this makes it easier to verify the payment. Bidders whose offers were rejected get the wadium back within 7 working days of the announcement of the result. The winner does not get the wadium back — it is credited against the rent (and in some proceedings against the kaucja). If, however, through your own fault you fail to sign the contract within the deadline set by the rules (usually 14 days from the posting of the results), the wadium is forfeited.

What does a written tender look like step by step?

1. Download the rules, the offer form and the contract template from the ZGN or district authority website.
2. View the unit and ask for a draft protokół zdawczo-odbiorczy (handover protocol) — that is where the real technical condition shows.
3. Assemble the attachments: the offer on the correct form, declarations about the business activity conducted, confirmation of the wadium payment.
4. State the offered net rate per m² in figures and in words — a discrepancy, or giving a „range” of rates, means the offer is rejected.
5. Submit the sealed and labelled envelope at the place and by the deadline stated in the notice; late offers are not accepted.

The tender committee opens the offers on the appointed day, and the only criterion is the level of the rate. As a rule the offer binds you for 60 days from the opening — during that time you cannot withdraw from it without losing the wadium.

How does an oral tender, that is rate bidding, proceed?

In the oral variant, after entries have been checked, bidding takes place. The rules are formalised: the minimum increment is 1% of the opening rate (rounded up to full tens of groszy), and higher increments are decided by the participants themselves. The person conducting the tender calls the highest rate three times — after the third call no further increments are accepted.

The tender is valid even with a single participant, provided that participant made at least one minimum increment above the opening rate. You enter the room with an identity document. Set a firm rate limit in advance — the emotions of bidding can push the rent above the threshold of profitability.

After winning: contract, kaucja, indexation?

You sign the contract within the deadline given in the rules — most often up to 14 days from the posting of the results announcement. Before signing you pay a security deposit (kaucja gwarancyjna), as standard three times the offered monthly rent plus VAT, less the wadium already paid. Rent is usually paid by the 10th day of the month and does not cover utilities — electricity, water and waste collection are settled separately.

The rate is indexed annually by the average annual consumer price growth index announced by the President of GUS for the previous year. If you have objections to how the proceedings were conducted, you may lodge a complaint with the district mayor within 3 days of the announcement closing the tender.

What to watch out for before submitting an offer?

The points that in practice determine profitability:

• Technical condition — municipal units are often vacant premises in need of renovation; the fit-out is on the tenant, and the scope of works requires the landlord’s consent. Calculate the cost of the works before the bidding, not after it (see renovating a unit for rental).
• Type of business — gastronomy means Sanepid requirements, ventilation and HACCP procedures; not every unit can be adapted to that, and changing the profile requires the city’s consent.
• Ancillary areas — basements and back-of-house areas also count towards the rent, though sometimes at a different rate; check exactly what you are paying for.
• Contract duration — a fixed-term contract of up to 3 years is a short horizon for recovering outlays; if you are planning a serious fit-out, aim for a profiled tender or an auction with a lease of up to 10 years.

At allproperty we monitor notices from all districts and guide clients through tenders from A to Z — from assessing the unit and the realistic rate to collecting the keys. Handling commercial units is priced individually — if you are looking for a unit for a specific business, write to us and we will point out which proceedings are worth watching. Deadlines in tenders are rigid, and a question about the wadium or a complete set of documents can come up in the evening, when the ZGN no longer answers the phone — we work around the clock, call +48 666 866 468 or +48 692 649 839 at any time.